Tallahassee, Fla., Aug 21, 2019 / 08:30 am
The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops is pleading for Gov. Ron DeSantis to stop the execution of Gary Ray Bowles, who confessed to murdering six men during a six month period in 1994.
"As we approach the date of Gary Ray Bowles' scheduled execution, we urge you to grant a stay," said an Aug. 14 letter, signed by Michael B. Sheedy, the executive director of the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the state's bishops.
Bowles' execution is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Aug. 22. He was first sentenced to death in May 1996, after pleading guilty to the murder of Walter "Jay" Hinton, and then re-sentenced to death in 1999 after his initial death sentence was overturned. While in prison for Hinton's murder, he was convicted of three other murders, and sentenced to two life sentences.
When Bowles was arrested for Hinton's death, he admitted that he had killed a total of six people. As Bowles' crime spree spread from Jacksonville, Florida to Montgomery County, Maryland, he was dubbed the "I-95 Killer."